Brugge and Ghent

Belgium is a small place, so it is easy to have a quick look at the nearby cities of Brugge and Ghent. We took a bus tour and were treated to three commentaries – English, French and Spanish – all by the same woman who confessed that she would be starting a German course in January to round out her fundamental European language collection. 

She was very knowledgeable about the history, geography and culture, but did tell me that the sculpture on this building was Cicero being fed by his daughter when he was in prison, but it turns out to be a standard representation of Roman Charity which has several origin stories, none of them including Cicero. 

We also enjoyed some of the other ever present features of Belgium – cold and wind – all part of the experience. 

We met some women from Costa Rica on the bus, and on a particularly cold and wet segment of the tour we all decided that hot chocolate was the right option. Not as good as Spanish hot chocolate, or Costa Rician hot chocolate apparently. 

The buildings were great. 

The lunch equally good – no vegetables notwithstanding. The squares, the canals and the boats, the history and the culture all deserve much more time, better preparation and closer inspection.

The highlight of Ghent was, of course, the busses running along the road where the tram tracks had been filled in to stop the trams using them. 

Seems logical.